Dear all,

Last night, the Atlanta Board of Education postponed the Grady High School renaming decision until its next meeting on December 7.  In the interim, the current students of Grady will be allowed to do a ranked voting (in order of preference) on the following names:  Midtown High School, Piedmont High School and Ida B. Wells. The school renaming committee with take the student vote and recommend it to the Board as the new name for Grady.  You can read more about the decision and process here:  https://thesoutherneronline.com/78367/news/school-board-postpones-renaming-process-for-student-vote/

I want to thank everyone who signed and shared this petition! It was impactful to have almost 2,000 people jointly request that the Board vote no to the proposed name recommendation of Ida B. Wells.  I'm not sure that last night's result would have been the same without this surge of community feedback.  I know that many of us had previously voiced our thoughts on the name proposal, but this petition was a final flashpoint for us to speak in unison.  Thank you for being part of it!

I hope that the current students will be thoughtful with their votes, and ultimately, select a name that will allow the school's stakeholders to move forward together.  I continue to believe a place-based name has the best chance of doing that, as it draws on the common thread of the school's physical location.

Thank you again for supporting this petition, and please continue to support this school!